We welcome our many new volunteers from our Facebook private group, word of mouth, answer to prayer and our new volunteer sign-up system. We still need a Public Relations Chair. If you could use your PR and social-media skills to help promote the CWG Live Conference, the fall retreat and other events, please step forward and join the best networking group around!
BLOG: Kathryn Cunningham and Dennis McGeehan encourage all contributors and editors to send to them details on any glitches with WordPress and/or the blog. Kassie Rittman has volunteered her time and expertise. The Blog Team is pleased with the variety and quality of the posts. The new writer-editor teams are working with the updated style sheet and the new guidelines outlining the CWG publication process.
CALA: Carol Ann Chybowski is our new CALA Chair for our prestigious Catholic Arts and Letters Awards for fiction books in several categories. She reports two new volunteers interested in the CALA committee.
Catholic Book News: Dawn Witzke, another new chair, reports on overcoming several snags this first month of putting this month’s CBN issue together on her own. The April issue came out online April 27 with two SOA books featured The Ten Commandments of Kissing Gloria by Britt Leigh and Yes, God! What Ordinary Families Can Learn About Parenting from Today’s’ Vocation by Susie Lloyd.
CWCL: Ann Lewis and Ellen Hrkach have most of the speakers in place for the Catholic Writers Conference – Live! The schedule will be out soon for the conference on July 22-24 in Somerset, New Jersey. Speakers, workshops, even pitch sessions and one of the greatest exhibit floors for Catholics ever! Click this link to register now!
CWCO – Laura Lowder reports, “We’re still just treading water on the Online Conference and testing webinar software as our new website is designed.”
Facebook: Karina Fabian reports that Gina Marinello-Sweeny has taken over approving members for the FB group, and Ann Seeton is facilitating Topic Tuesday. Dennis McGeehan is motivating us to set goals on Monday and Freelance Friday, but intermittently. Jean Heimann’s Seven Saints for Seven Virtues was our April Book Blast. If you are not in this private Facebook group, contact Karina and join the fun!
Membership: Maureen Smith, our new membership chair, reports, ”There have been quite a few people sign up as new members and many renew their membership. Each week I seem to be getting more sign ups!”
Newsletter: Barb Szyszkiewicz sent the April newsletter out using Constant Contact and is preparing the next issue.
Retreat: Ann Lewis is coordinating this event. Start planning now! “Your Word is my Delight,” 10-25-29, 2015, St. Francis Retreat Center, 703 E. Main St., DeWitt, Michigan. Click this link to register now!
Speakers Forum/Educational Outreach – Dennis McGeehan reports, “This committee could benefit from members contacting their local diocese and informing them of the existence of the Catholic Writers Guild and the availability of members as speakers.”
SOA: Erin Cupp, “The Seal of Approval Committee recently welcomed Camille Mittermeier as our Online Training Coordinator. New to CWG, Camille will be working with the SOA Committee to create online training modules, first for our evaluators and then for our submitting authors. We hope to roll out the new evaluator training by the end of the year.”
Volunteer Committee: Nicole Lataif created a spreadsheet for volunteers to match their skills and availability with the open volunteer positions offered by committee chairs. Volunteering not only serves the members, you get to know new members and network with them. To volunteer through the new system, contact Nicole.
Zenit Team: Dennis McGeehan reports, “We submitted our recommendations for inclusion on Zenit on 3/30/2015 in advance of the upcoming Holy Days. Three recommendations were made. To date none of those have appeared on the Zenit site.
Also Note:
The CWG Non-Fiction Critique Group has two openings. Contact Nancy Ward or Connie Rossini.
For other concerns and suggestions about our fabulous committees, contact Nancy Ward, Coordinator of Committees.
Nancy Ward
Nancy Ward, convert, journalist, author, and speaker, writes from Texas about Catholicism, conversion and Christian community at NancyHCWard.com, JOYAlive.net, and other websites and magazines. Through her Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story workshops, retreats and DVD, she shares her conversion story in Catholic parishes and at conferences, equipping others to share their stories. She contributed to the award-winning The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion, facilitates two Catholic Writers Guild critique groups, serves on the Guild’s Board, and speaks at national writers conferences.